Day Two, 7:09
Location: Cornucopia
Mystic reached out, grabbing her sword by the hilt. It was heavy in her hands, but the weight was familiar as she swung it around. She followed the motions of her warmup routine as she surveyed the area around the Cornucopia. She and Reign had chosen to stay nearby, camping out in the open space surrounding the horn. Off to one side was the smouldering remains of the fire they'd started. Mystic had figured there weren't any real threats left in the Arena, making it safer to start one; other than the other Careers and whoever had taken out Claudia, there wasn't much to worry about.
Although, based on the state they'd found Claudia in, it likely wasn't Chiffon or Dean who'd killed her. She'd been bludgeoned to death, her face completely unrecognizable- which, to her knowledge, wasn't something either of the boys would do. But, Mystic didn't know who could've done it either, leaving her somewhat worried.
Somehow though, that wasn't even all of it. How had everything gone this poorly right at the start?
On top of everything with Claudia, Reign had killed Tarni, the only person Mystic felt she could trust. By his account, however, she'd attacked him first. It wasn't like Mystic could take his word at face value, especially not considering he had even more reason to lie if it kept him alive. But while Mystic knew she couldn't trust him, she also didn't want to be alone - that was basically a nightmare waiting to happen. After all, if another group of tributes teamed up against her, she wasn't certain she could win that fight.
But that didn't mean Mystic could drop her facade of perfection. As far as she was concerned, in this Arena, she could do anything she put her mind to.
At least, that's what she had to convince everyone - including herself.
Across the small clearing, Reign sighed deeply. The movement was enough for Mystic to catch from the corner of her eye. She sheathed her sword across her back and walked over to him.
"Good morning," Mystic chirped. Reign grumbled something unintelligible, rolling over as Mystic drew closer. "How did you sleep?"
"I didn't," Reign replied, rolling onto his back. He covered his eyes with his hands as he lay silent for a moment.
"Well, that's no good," Mystic said. "But we should get going. We have things to do."
"We?" Reign asked.
"Yes, we."
Reign pulled his hands off his face, sitting up and looking at Mystic as she spoke again. "Do you want to be alone in this Arena? Do you want to die? Because I'm more than happy to leave you or just kill you now."
"I don't particularly want to die," Reign replied. "And I don't think you want to be alone here, do you?"
"Not exactly," Mystic shook her head. "We don't have to get along, but we should do our best to work together for a bit at least."
"A bit," Reign repeated. "Nothing permanent?"
"Of course not. We both know nothing will last here."
"So what do we do now?" Reign asked. "We can't defend all this stuff, and we can't stay here either."
"Well, I think I have a plan for that," Mystic grinned.
"What kind of plan?" Reign asked, leaning forwards. He seemed interested, which was exactly what Mystic was hoping for. Everyone wanted something in life, and Reign was no different. If she could just figure out what it was that made him tick- and Mystic would figure it out -she could exploit it. Reign was dangerous, but if she could keep him wrapped around her finger, it was all the better for her.
"Well, what if we destroyed everything? We just… take what we want, and get rid of the rest," Mystic said. "I know it seems less than ideal in the long run, but if we take more than enough to last us, we'll be okay. And if we do need something, I'm sure your score will pull in enough sponsor money to get it sent in."
Reign paused for a moment, blinking blearily at her. He had just woken up; perhaps she should've waited on the idea a bit longer, but that thought didn't occur to her until after she'd already laid her plan out.
"So you want to… I see," Reign trailed off. He thought about it for a long moment before nodding in agreement. "I think it's a good plan."
"Good," Mystic nodded. She pulled herself to her feet, offering Reign a hand. He neglected to take it. "Let's get started then."
Mystic made her way into the Cornucopia, beginning to root through the crates of supplies. She quickly picked out two of the larger backpacks, filling them with whatever Mystic could find- rope, medical supplies, non-perishable foods, blankets, extra weapons. It was a tedious process, but Reign was there to help. And as the two worked alongside each other in silence, Mystic couldn't help but feel like things might not be so bad.
Together, they would burn it all down.
Day Two, 11:37
Location: Northern Control Booth
Verity awoke, shivering as she lay curled up on the hard ground. She stretched out, searching for the warmth of Diesel beside her, but her fingers only found cold, empty concrete.
Where had he gone?
Peeling her eyes open, Verity blinked a few times in the bright sun that streamed in from the nearby window. She had no idea what time it was- in fact, Verity didn't even remember going to sleep. Last she knew, her forehead was pressed to Diesel's chest as she regaled him with stories of her and Gideon's adventures, a rare moment of peace in the Arena.
But today was a new day, and they had things to do.
Dragging herself to her feet, Verity held the wall with a hand, steadying herself. The small control room was a good enough base, large enough to fit both of them and their supplies comfortably. There was a panel at the front, a small closet in the back where they'd stored their bags, and a window in front of the panel. The walls were all intact, as was the roof, but there were a few cracks in the floor. Verity was careful to navigate her way around these as she made her way to the closed door across the room. As she pushed it open, the metal door squeaking horribly on its rusted hinges, she looked around, not spotting Diesel immediately.
"Dee?" Verity called, stepping onto the platform outside of the building. "Are you there?"
"Here," Diesel's quiet voice replied, poking his head out of the foliage next to the building. He looked tired, the circles under his eyes prominent even before Verity approached him.
"Whatcha doing?" Verity asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Can I help? Are you setting more traps?"
Diesel blinked at her a few times. "I am. And um… if you want to help you can."
Verity nodded, grinning widely as she climbed over branches and leaves to stand next to Diesel. She was happy to help; the last thing Verity wanted was to be sitting around with nothing to do. Plus, maybe she could talk to him while they worked, to try to figure out what was going on with him. Diesel had been quieter than usual since the Bloodbath, and Verity was beginning to worry.
They couldn't fall apart, not now, when they were running out of time. It was inevitable the Games would catch up to them; she'd known that from the very start. But seeing eight dead faces in the sky the night before made it feel so much more real. Verity knew they couldn't afford to spend what time they did have fractured.
"So, um," Verity began, as Diesel led her deeper into the forest. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Um, I'm fine," Diesel replied softly. "Don't worry."
"Okay, but hear this," Verity said, taking Diesel's hand in her own, stopping him in his tracks. "I care about you, and if there's something wrong and I can help, I want to help."
"Oh," Diesel replied softly, staring at their interlocked hands. "I… um, you aren't upset with me?"
"No," Verity insisted. "I'm not upset at all."
"Oh, well, um… well, I thought you would be. I just felt so bad for snapping at you at the Cornucopia and, uh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You're okay. I'm not mad or anything, I promise," Verity insisted, pulling Diesel into a hug. He shook like a leaf in the wind, fragile as ever. They stayed there for a few beats, neither saying a thing as she buried her face in his shoulder.
Everything was okay. At least for that moment, everything was okay.
"Well, we should get to work!" Verity exclaimed as Diesel pulled out of the hug. He nodded, a ghost of a smile crossing his face. "You did say you'd show me, right?"
"Right. And um, you should know where the traps are so you don't accidentally walk into one," Diesel said. "Also, I was, um, thinking of taking apart that control panel inside. To see if there's, uh… anything useful."
Verity grinned widely as she offered a hand out to Diesel. He took it, leading her deeper into the forest, pointing with a free hand towards a tree nearby.
"Do you see that wire?" Diesel asked. Verity squinted where he pointed, shaking her head.
"No, I don't," Verity replied. As Diesel guided her closer, she finally spotted the thin, clear wire stretched between two trees.
Diesel plucked the wire with a finger, which caused a strange twanging noise. "Well, um, we're gonna figure out what kind of trap to set here with it. I got part of the way through it last night but uh… it's just a little tricky I guess."
"I see," Verity replied, kneeling down next to him. "What kind of supplies do you have?"
Diesel mumbled to himself as he pulled his bag off his shoulder. He pulled out several lengths of wire, a few small pulleys, and other things Verity couldn't even begin to describe, as well as several old pieces of metal that Diesel had picked up in their travels the day prior.
"This is what we have right now," Diesel stated. "But um, I was thinking… Maybe we could go look around more? I mean, um, if the control panel inside gives us anything useful, there's bound to be more in other places, right?"
"Right," Verity affirmed. "We can do that tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow, yes," Diesel nodded. "For now, I was thinking of uh, rigging this up with the metal right? So if anybody trips it it'd uh… make noise and hopefully scare them. But it'd alert us too. And, if it works right it'd catch people and also… well anything else that might be in the Arena," Diesel spoke, with more confidence than Verity had ever heard from him. It seemed as if he was in his element, and it clearly did wonders for him even if he was still nervous.
"That's a wonderful idea," Verity grinned, patting Diesel on the cheek. He smiled softly, collecting the supplies again.
"Well uh, let's get to it then!" Diesel exclaimed, handing her the stack of scrap metal. "Here- you can figure out how to rig these up to make noise." Verity nodded, taking the supplies from him as they set off to work.
She was more than content to sit by Diesel's side in peace and work. After all, every day that passed by without trouble was worth its weight in gold to Verity.
Day Two, 3:08
Location: West Waterpark
Calvin gripped the railing tightly, pushing steadily upwards. His and Carter's footsteps were the only sound echoing in the long stairway, bouncing off the walls as they walked. The building they'd found themselves in was massive, huge enough to have multiple stories. Carter had suggested they might be able to secure a room to turn into a home base for a bit and Calvin had agreed, leading to what felt like an eternal climb up never ending stairs. Calvin figured that any other tribute in the building would be able to find the boys based on all the noise they were making going up the stairs, but Calvin had a feeling there wasn't anybody else here. It was too… lifeless, untouched for too many years. There was just something about it that Calvin couldn't quite put his finger on.
Rounding the corner onto another platform, Calvin quickly realized there were no more steps to go up. As he peered down between the flights of stairs, he could see Carter, a few flights down, moving slower than Calvin but steadily pushing upwards.
"I found the top!" Calvin called. His own voice bounced around him as he spoke, throwing him off slightly.
"Good!" Carter replied, breathing heavily. "Just- ah, wait for me?"
"Sure," Calvin agreed. He turned, spotting a closed door which he took a seat next to. He figured he might as well take a break while he waited for Carter to arrive, which Calvin's ally did soon after.
"It's damn hot in here," Carter sighed, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Perhaps we can find a working sink then," Calvin shot back, getting to his feet.
"We can only hope," Carter chuckled. He pulled out the baseball bat he'd gotten from the Cornucopia and gestured to the door with it. "Ready to go?"
"Of course," Calvin nodded.
Carter pulled the door open carefully. Its hinges squealed, but it opened without any other resistance. Carter pushed through, Calvin trailing behind him, as they made their way onto an open balcony of sorts, massive compared to the cramped stairwell. Calvin pushed forwards towards the railing and peered over the edge, looking down on the giant play structure below. It was filled with plastic tubes and slides of all sorts, large puddles of still water on the floor. The roof had fallen through in a few places, the shining sun illuminating the garish colours of the plastic below. They'd come in past the thing, but it looked entirely different from above.
"This- it's like a balcony or something?" Carter noted, putting a hand on Calvin's shoulder. "Anyhow we should stay back, yeah? This railing doesn't look too solid."
"Yeah, I'm just looking," Calvin said, stepping back. Carter hurried them away, back towards the door they'd come out of.
"Let's keep explorin' then?" Carter suggested. "There's a few doors around here. Maybe we should just start on this level and make our way down."
Calvin nodded his agreement, following behind Carter without question. Calvin felt he had good enough judgement that he wasn't worried about being deceived, even after his mentor expressed concerns about him taking on an older ally- especially one who could easily kill him. But Calvin was sure about Carter. He had to be; Carter was the only person he had in here. If Calvin was wrong, that was his mistake to make, and if it got him killed, it got him killed. Calvin was just glad he had an ally as kind as Carter. But that kindness came with a downside.
Carter wasn't cut out for the Games. Really, and truly he wasn't.
And that only made trusting him so much easier.
They made their way to the next door over. Carter tried the doorknob, and it opened, the door swinging inwards, revealing a rectangle of inky darkness. As Carter took a few nervous steps in, Calvin followed. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. Calvin could just make out what seemed to be two long tables, chairs scattered around them. It looked like it could seat at least thirty people- more than how many tributes had originally entered the Arena.
"What is this?" Carter asked.
"Dunno." Calvin shrugged, though Carter couldn't see it. "Some kind of… meeting room, perhaps?"
Calvin felt along the wall until he found a light switch. He flipped it with his finger although it didn't do anything. This disappointed him mildly, but Calvin wasn't overly shocked, as the rest of the Arena was in a similar state of disrepair. Suddenly, he heard a curious crunching noise.
"That was me," Carter said quickly from the other side of the room. "I stepped on… something?"
"What?"
"Dunno," Carter replied. "Hold yer horses." Carter eventually made his way back up to the front. They both stepped into the light, Carter with a metallic object in hand. It looked sort of like a paperweight, but attached to it were several strings, anchoring several rubber cylinders which trailed behind Carter.
"What're these?" Carter asked, pointing at the balloons.
"They're, uh, balloons, I think," Calvin replied. "I've only ever seen them on TV and stuff."
Carter nodded, thoughtfully turning the faded but still colourful balloons over in his hands. "I think we should leave that room alone."
"Why?" Calvin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, there's no lights in there… and uh, I mean," Carter said, searching for words. "It probably wouldn't be a very good place to stay."
Calvin watched as Carter tossed the balloons back into the room, slamming the door shut. The room did feel strange, but that didn't mean they couldn't explore it more. And the further they got from the door, the more curious Calvin got. What really happened in that room? What happened in this building?
In due time, Calvin would figure it out. He was sure of it.
Day Two, 5:55
Location: Unknown
Cecil ducked down, scurrying into the brightly coloured tube. He nearly smacked his head as he ran up the slide, placing his hands flat against the curved sides to keep from slipping. As he hoisted himself out of the slide, Cecil's head smacked into the lip with a resounding crack. "Fuck!" Cecil exclaimed, his hands flying to his forehead. He grumbled as he crawled onto a small platform, taking a moment to gather his bearings.
As he looked up, Cecil quickly realised the structure wasn't covered. Circling high above were those things that just refused to leave him alone. It'd started out the night before with a few dark figures darting through the trees as he attempted to sleep. But they'd multiplied overnight, and now he found himself being followed by a whole swarm. They didn't seem to be birds, which had been Cecil's first assumption, but whatever they were, they clouded over him, rendering the brilliant blue sky nothing but a memory.
Spinning on his heel, Cecil spotted a wood slat bridge that led from the tower he stood on to another section of the playground. Cecil took off towards it, carefully stepping from plank to plank, hoping none of them would break beneath his weight. But as Cecil got to the end of the bridge, a snap rang through the air.
Before he knew it, Cecil was falling.
Cecil jumped, lunging out for the other side as best he could, but his fingertips just barely brushed the ledge. He found himself falling, weightless, wishing that he had somebody to catch him - perhaps his allies, whom he'd lost so carelessly. He knew that they'd never taken him seriously, that they'd only seen him as a useless kid.
Now, Cecil couldn't help but think that they were more right than ever.
The ground approached faster than Cecil had anticipated; he landed on his back with a solid thud. A sharp pain ran through him where his water bottle dug into his back through his bag, and he gasped sharply for air. The thought of resting for a moment crossed his mind, until he saw the cloud following his descent. As it neared, a loud buzzing filled the air- those things definitely weren't birds. Cecil knew he couldn't stick around long enough to get caught by them. Groaning, he scrambled to his feet and took off.
Cecil ran, faster than he had in years. He grimaced as sharp pains ran through his legs with every step. After a few minutes, he spotted what looked to be a small shed nearby. If he could get inside and get the door closed behind him, he could maybe wait the swarm out. "Maybe" wasn't a guarantee. but it was the only option Cecil had. Even if the Careers were right about him being an idiot and a useless kid, it didn't mean Cecil could give up, could let himself die so easily. He'd been taught for so many years to fight, and even if that fact landed him here it would also be what got Cecil out.
Quickly making his way to the door, Cecil threw it open, stumbling inside. The interior was dark and musty but otherwise unoccupied. Cecil threw the door closed behind him, pushing his back against it. It was entirely dark now, the buzzing still apparent but quieter. He could hear several of the bugs crashing against the other side of the door.
And as Cecil sat for a moment, aching seeping into every inch of his body, he realized just how exhausted he truly was. He wanted to go home, wanted to be anywhere but here. And yet Cecil didn't have a real home to go back to- if he won, what would he return to? His absent mother? His father who pushed him to be everything he wanted, who pushed out all of Cecil's sense of self until he was nothing but the perfect soldier? He didn't know, didn't want to know what fate would befall him if he survived. Dying didn't feel like winning, but winning sure as hell didn't feel like winning either.
Dread sank deep into his stomach. Cecil realized that perhaps he did know his fate after all.
Nothing would ever truly change for Cecil, no matter how hard he fought.
